Renewing Reality
by LuckyHumbug
Summary: To forgive and to forget is always easy to say, but putting it into actions is always difficult. Gabriella Montez is about to learn the hard way, as the boy who once destroyed her heart is thrust back into her life. TxG


**So, this is my second attempt at a story, the first one I deleted – I really wasn't happy with it at all. I am English and write using UK English, I have attempted to alter spellings to match American English, but I'm sure some words may have slipped through the net, as well as some sayings that may be seen as typically English. If there are any queries about meanings behind any words or phrases, don't hesitate to ask me!**

**The story itself is set in America, so I will try my best get as many details correct as possible, but please I'm sorry if it's a little off as I'm sure a town on the outskirts of London is bound to be very different from cities in America.**

**For a while now this storyline has been replaying in my mind, its taken me a while to get this first chapter done as its taken some time to sort out the way the story will pan out.**

**I'm leaving the rating as T at the moment, but I'll see how it goes.**

**DISCLAIMER:The original HSM characters belong to Disney, the fictional characters, settings and situations are original and have been created out of my weird and wonderful mind.**

**Enjoy and feedback would be lovely!**

* * *

Me and my heart we got issues,  
Don't know if I should hate you or miss you,  
Damn, I wish that I could resist you,  
Can't decide if I should leave you or kiss you.  
Me and my heart we got issues, issues, issues.  
We got issues, issues, issues.

**Issues – The Saturdays**

Gabriella Montez exited Evatez photography studios one late Friday afternoon in downtown LA. She headed left towards a local Starbucks after a hard and very stressful first day back. It was early January and Gabriella had made three resolutions. One – Try to remain stress free at work, she'd already failed that one. The second was to try and remain open minded towards the possibility of love. She had become very cynical about the prospect of love, after a hard time trying to pull herself through the hurt one love once caused her, she often wondered whether love indeed was really worth the heartache. Her third and final resolution was to try to stop the feeling of heartache when a certain Troy Bolton became the topic of a conversation. After four and a half years Troy Bolton still managed to have some effect on her, and she hated it. She wanted to hate him, but somehow she couldn't. After all the hurt he had caused her she often wondered to herself how she was ever meant to forget him. There was one person in particular who was very keen for Gabriella to fulfil these resolutions.

Sharpay Evans.

Sharpay reached out to Gabriella once the gang began to turn their backs on her. Sharpay was the only one willing to listen, and she was glad she did because she now understood the truth. Through believing Gabriella she lost her relationship with Zeke and her friendship with Chad, Taylor and Troy, but she believed staying with Gabriella was the right thing to do. Sure, she often wondered what would have happened if she hadn't listened. She would still be in touch with the gang, she may have even been with Zeke, but she then thought about the effects it would have had on Gabriella. Gabriella would have been alone, she may of even gone into depression due to the way she was before Sharpay reached out. It was that thought that caused Sharpay to believe she made the right decision.

Gabriella and Sharpay became very close and although the last few months of high school had been hard and uncomfortable for them both, they made it through and were soon on their way to a new chapter at UCLA.

Throughout college they stuck with each other, they made acquaintances not true friends. Gabriella still felt vulnerable and in the first stages of college was very withdrawn and relied on Sharpay for a lot. Sharpay helped Gabriella build her confidence up again and soon the ordeal was a mere memory, although a horrible one, it was now one that could easily try to put to the back of the mind.

It was after college that they decided to create their business Evatez. With both having a love for arts and fashion, a photography studio was the perfect business. They started small, a few shoots with unknown stars for small time magazines and newspapers, but soon their business began to grow and they began to hold photo shoots with famous stars for big time magazines.

As Gabriella slumped down into a sofa in the corner of her local Starbucks, she took a long sip of her caffé mocha and released a long awaited sigh. She had a lot of problems with arrogant male models. A lot of people would believe she had the best job in the world, spending hours on end getting hot males to do as she wanted, but the truth was most of them were asses and tried to hit on her at any moment and try to dictate to her on how the shoot should be done.

Gabriella began to scowl at the memory of arrogant men, and one face appeared, as if scorched into her mind, her hurt over the years had become anger, she was brought from her trance by the vibration of her phone in the front pocket.

"Hello," Gabriella answered somewhat distracted.

"Just walked past Le Coin de Miel, and there was a hot waiter in the window, we are so going there tonight," Sharpay's voice full of excitement rang through Gabriella's ear.

"And what if I'd planned just to fall asleep on the couch allowing a dream full of Johnny Depp, after watching hours full of him being his sexy pirate self," Gabriella retaliated. Johnny Depp was her therapy, well both her and Sharpay's.

"Oh come on Gabs, any other day I'd love to watch Johnny Depp being all gorgeous, but we're 23 and this guy was totally hot and I feel like some innocent flirting, you in?"

"I'm not going to get out of this am I?" Gabriella really wasn't in the mood to fight with excited Sharpay.

"Well seeing as I've already book the table, then no. You see we were lucky. The Maître d' said that there was a party taking up most of the restaurant, so there wasn't many tables available, and lucky us they had a cancellation! Oh but it's a little bit pricey, but oh well we're talking about a hot waiter Gabs!" Sharpay wasn't so much excited for herself, but more at the prospect that she could get Gabriella a date, she worried about her, just like any best friend would.

"Fine Sharpay, I'm just at Starbucks at the moment, I'll be home in about 10 minutes, ok?"

"Yes, I'm just on my way back now, I'll tell you how the meeting with Elle went, but can you please bring me back a latte, I'm gasping, Thanks." With that Sharpay hung up.

*******

Gabriella reached the apartment just before 6, situated in a modern building, with 3 bedrooms and spacious living areas it suited both of the girls well. They decided to move in together about a year ago after constantly staying over at one another's apartments.

"I'm home!" Gabriella called after entering the apartment. She flung her handbag onto the couch, proceeded to the kitchen and placed down Sharpay's latte on the island. Sharpay was busy leaning against the counter painting her nails a cherry red colour.

"Hey friend," Sharpay acknowledged the greeting with a small wave as she was too busy concentrating. "So this Le Coin de Miel, do you even know if the food is any good?"

"Well, you see no, but if the looks of the waiters is anything to go by I'd say tonight could be pretty good," Sharpay looked to her right and noticed her coffee and muttered thanks.

"You and men Sharpay, they're so overrated," said Gabriella.

"You so need to get laid," Sharpay exclaimed. Gabriella's mouth opens a little with the bluntness of the statement. "Exactly when was the last time you had sex?" Sharpay questioned.

"Sharpay! I am not answering that!"

"So that means a year ago or even more then," Sharpay retorted with a smirk.

"What no! It was like two months ago maybe, see that's not that bad, now can we not talk about it anymore, I'm going to go get ready," Gabriella said and began to walk out of the kitchen.

"Whoa whoa where do you think you're going? Two freaking months ago, you never told me! Was it a one-night stand? What was his name? Was he hot?" Sharpay babbled on.

"Oh for god sake Sharpay, yes it was a one-night stand, his name was Andy, he's a model-"

"A model, but you hate models, and at work, oh my god where-"Sharpay exclaimed.

"Shut up Sharpay! I know I hate them, I don't know what happened okay, wine was involved and then the next thing I know is I'm waking up on the sofa in the office next to him." Gabriella said with her cheeks tinted a little.

"You little slut!" Sharpay exclaimed laughing, but as soon as she saw Gabriella's face fall, her laughing faltered. "God Gabs, sorry I-"

"Don't worry Sharpay, I'm just going to go get ready I'll be bout half hour."

Gabriella exited the kitchen and made her way to her bedroom, she entered the room and as she perched on top of her cream throw on the end of her bed memories began to replay over her head.

-

_Gabriella wandered the halls of East High looking for the gang, she was flustered and a wreck, she needed their help, they weren't at her locker where she'd expected them to be, and she had already been past Taylor's and Sharpay's and knew that they weren't there either. As she turned the corner, she saw them all hovering around Troy's locker._

_She neared her friends with a tear stained face, they all turned to face her as she murmured, "Guys, something's happened."_

_"Oh we know something has happened," Troy growled._

_Even though she was a little put out by Troy's tone, she carried on, "Troy, it was horrible he-"_

_"Gabriella we saw exactly what happened, don't talk to any of us again, and I can't believe that you'd cheat on me, you're just another slut," Troy hissed at her._

_"Wait guys you've got the wrong end of the stick, it wasn't what it looked like. Troy, I love you I would never cheat on you, you know that!" Gabriella exclaimed with tears now pouring down her face, how could they not believe her, but then again they didn't even look like they were going to let her explain. "Taylor you're my best friend, you know I'd never do anything like that, Sharpay, Chad, Zeke, you know me, please guys let me explain." Gabriella was literally sobbing as the gang began to walk away._

_"Guys please!" Gabriella exclaimed as she slid down the locker into a crouching position, putting her head on her knees._

-

Gabriella snapped from her trance as Sharpay entered the room.

"You've got to try and let it go Gab," Sharpay said as she perched next to Gabriella.

"I know, I just don't think I'll ever be able to let it go completely, I just can never forget the feeling I had as I watched you all walk away, I just can't believe that you were the only one willing to listen," Gabriella murmured.

"I know Gabs, I don't get it either, now come on I really want you to meet this waiter, so get your pretty little self ready, OK?" Sharpay said as she jumped up and made her way over to the doorway.

"Fine, now go get ready yourself!" Gabriella exclaimed and pushed Sharpay fully out of her room and shut the door.

"What to wear, what to wear," Gabriella muttered as she made her way over to her closet. She rifled through the clothes and came across a black dress, with slight ruffled sleeves, buttons on the back, with a belt of the same material around the waist.

Gabriella grabbed the dress and laid it out on her bed. She removed her work clothes, changed her underwear and pulled the dress on over her head. She fiddled at the back trying to reach the buttons, after several attempts the dress was completely done up. Gabriella made her way back over to her closet and began rummaging through her shoeboxes. She pulled out a simple pair of patent three-inch heels. She placed them by the door, ready for her to slip them on.

Gabriella sat down at her vanity unit, and brushed through her hair, it was fine as it had been washed that morning and only simply needed a brush. She pulled out her make up bag and applied smokey colors to her eyelids and outlined them in black eye liner. She tinted her cheeks with a rose blush and applied clear lip-gloss, she looked at herself in the mirror and murmured, "That will do."

Gabriella slipped on her heels and made her way out of her bedroom, "Shar? You ready?"

"Yea, I'll be out in a second."

*******

The girls climbed out of their cab and stood in front of the entrance of Le Coil de Meil, there was a small walkway leading to the door, surrounded by trees and fairy lights.

"Sharpay when you said pricey, do you mean pricey that I am not going to be able to eat out again for the rest of the year?" Gabriella muttered in Sharpay's direction.

"Yup," Sharpay muttered back sheepishly.

The girls made their way towards the entrance, as they drew near the doors were pulled open and they were ushered in. The maître d' asked for their names, which they supplied, "Mesdames, do you mind waiting a moment, you see we have a big party this evening, which happens to be the LA Lakers team, celebrating a victory, it may take a moment for a server to take you to your table." He told the girls.

Sharpay said it was no problem, she looked towards Gabriella who simply stuttered, "The La Lakers?" It was at the moment that Sharpay realised who was currently playing on that team, Troy Bolton, Chad Danforth and Zeke Baylor.

"Oh holy mother of hell," Sharpay exclaimed.

"Is there a problem," The maître d', who's tag read Pierre, said to the girls.

"Oh, no problem, sorry," Sharpay replied in haste.

Gabriella nudged her side and hissed into her ear, "no problem? Sharpay we have a huge problem, I cannot go into that room!"

Sharpay turned to her and said, "Do you not think I don't feel the same way, I haven't seen Zeke in nearly five years, I'm freaking out as well, but I think this will be good for us," Gabriella gave Sharpay a 'what the hell' look which Sharpay responded too, "Look Gabs, we would have to see them eventually, they live in the same city, and you never know a high school reunion may be around the corner," Gabriella raised her eyebrows, "Oh hush, by seeing them it might enable you to lock the door and throw away the key on the past."

"Fine, but you are so walking in front of me, they may not notice you now that you've stopped dying your hair," Gabriella said cheekily as she looked at Sharpay's sophisticated brown locks.

"What have we said about this Gabi, I never used to dye, I dye it now, no-one must ever know that blonde was not my natural colour!" Sharpay exclaimed.

Gabriella was about to retaliate when a server walked over and said he would take them to their table. As they began moving Sharpay tapped the waiter and asked, "You can't take us to our table, without going past the Lakers can you?" The waiter looked a little puzzled and replied, "I don't think so miss." Sharpay frowned a little and then tapped him again, causing him to turn around, "Or do you have any wigs handy?" This perplexed the waiter, named André, but Sharpay continued, "or a hat, sunglasses, a feather boa," the waiter shook his head hesitantly.

Gabriella pulled Sharpay back and said, "Will you leave him alone, he looks scared, anyways we mig-," she stopped mid sentence, as Sharpay turned to see where Gabriella was looking, a few more words left Gabriella's mouth, "holy shit and fuck!"

"Pull yourself together women! Now head held high and hope for the best!" Sharpay exclaimed, although lacking in conviction. As they neared the table Sharpay focused her eyes on the back of the waiters head, while Gabriella's were focused on the back of Sharpay's.

They began the slow walk past the long table situated within the middle of the restaurant, clangs of cutlery, spluttering, choking and coughing could be heard, causing the girls to quicken their pace. They abruptly came to a stand still when the waiter stopped in front of a table directly to the left of the Lakers long table, roughly in the middle.

The waiter turned to the girls and said, "Enjoy your meal!"

The girls just nodded, whilst trying to keep looking away from the Lakers, Gabriella say in her seat and rested her head on her hands, "Can this get any worse," Gabriella hissed. She looked towards Sharpay who had a bemused look on her face, "You never know our table could have been directly behind the boys, now that would have been awkward." In some respects they were lucky, the three boys were at the opposite side of the table, in other respects they were unlucky as the three boys were facing directly at them.

Gabriella looked at Sharpay and began laughing at their predicament, "Only you Sharpay, only you could of picked this restaurant," Gabriella said between her giggles.

"Oh I know, only me, now, the plan of action I think should be, look straight at each other, don't let our eyes wander, look like we're having a good time, find the hot waiter, flirt like crazy and forget they are here, sound like a plan?" Sharpay asked.

"Hell yeah," Gabriella replied, as another waiter made his way to their table.

"Hello ladies, I'm Alex and I'll be your waiter for the evening, here's your menus and I'll be back in a few to take your drink orders," He handed both the girls a menu and began to walk away, but not before he gave them both a wink.

"That's him Gabs, that's the hot waiter!" Sharpay exclaimed.

*******

-

_Troy Bolton rounded one of many corners in the halls of East High in search of Gabriella, who he should have met over ten minutes ago at his locker. He knew Gabriella, he knew she was never late, he knew that if she was late something had happened._

_That's when he found her, pushed up against the lockers with Mark Bensons' lips attached to hers. His girlfriend cheating on him with Mark Benson, a boy he'd considered his enemy since freshman year, the boy who his self, along with the rest of the basketball team, despised with passion._

-

If only Troy had looked at them from a different angle, maybe then he would have seen her eyes scrunched in distaste, her lips stationary and fists pounding against his chest, trying to free herself from the torture that had been forced upon her.

Maybe then he wouldn't have broken up with the only girl he had ever loved. You see Troy along with Chad had found Mark, one year into college, in a local bar, considerably tipsy, but still with it enough to taunt Troy with the truth.

-

_"You're a fool Troy Bolton, you didn't fucking believe your own girlfriend, you should have heard the protesting and the whimpering as I forced her against those lockers, and I stuck my tongue down her throat. She was feisty I'll give you that, biting my tongue, scratching and punching at my chest, all I had to do was keep her in the same position until you came along, and you did, and you fucking didn't believe her, and now she's probably still broken because of you," the words flowed out of Marks mouth as the realisation of the mistake took over Troy._

_Three words replayed over his head, **because of you**, and with that his fist collided with Mark's face and he crashed to the ground._

-

Troy watched the two girls intently as guilt began to rise within him once more. All of them felt guilty. How could they not? None of them believed her, but it was Troy who took most of the blame, he was her boyfriend of two fucking years, he pictured them being together always, and he tossed her aside, called her a slut and dismissed her begging for him to see reason.

"Taylor I need to speak to her, I can't just sit here", he murmured to Taylor who he was seated next to, wives and girlfriends had joined the whole Lakers team as they'd just beaten the Knicks.

"Troy, you can't just march over there, she'll freak out, I think its best if I go," Taylor said, Troy was about to protest but she carried on, "Troy, just think for a second please, your end up having a bust up in the middle of the restaurant, do you really want the whole team to know, at least if I talk to her I can wait until she goes into the bathroom and speak to her privately, ok?"

"Fine, I just, I need her to know that we know the truth, not that I think that will make her forgive us, because we were supposed to believe her not him," Troy said sounding slightly dejected.

"I know Troy I know."

*******

The girls had just ordered their meal and were feeling slightly uncomfortable with the present situation.

"Sharpay, I really don't think I can stay here much longer, I can feel four pairs of eyes on me, do you think they still think I'm some stupid slut, god I should be angry with them but all I think about is what they think of me!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"Gabs, it's natural for you to worry about what they think of you, but the thing is you know you did nothing wrong, they did. Shall we just have a main meal then leave, I feel uncomfortable too Gabs, I can feel Zeke staring at me," Sharpay replied.

"I think you should talk to them Shar, do you know how guilty I feel that I made you lose all of them, just talk to them Sharpay, let them back in, I can't sit back and let you ignore them because of me," Gabriella murmured.

"No, Gabs, I don't want to, they hurt you Gabs, so much, and it hurts me too that they didn't believe you. Truth is I think about them a lot." Sharpay responded.

"I think about them a lot too, look I'm just going to pop to the loo, are you going to be ok on your own?" Gabriella asked.

"Yea sure, go ahead," Sharpay smiled.

Gabriella made her way over to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, she was freaking out, she knew she was. He was there, in the same room, the same boy who broke her heart nearly five years ago, and yet she still had a pull towards him. Gabriella had been fighting all night not to look at him. If she couldn't even look at him how the hell was she supposed to even attempt to speak to him? She knew she would have to at some stage.

* * *

**So.. I wasn't actually going to stop it there, but it feels right at the moment, I guess this is an introduction to the story, I have been writing this chapter for absolutely ages, editing and adding bits in, to be honest I don't know if I am one hundred percent happy, but I just wanted to finally publish it. I'm not sure when updates may happen, I am in the middle of taking my GCSEs, which don't finish until the end on June, although I'm not at school between these times I am putting revision first, and I feel as if I've already screwed up on two exams because of lack of it.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and a review would be nice!**


End file.
